Wrecked: A Night in the Desert
by 4Bluetiger
Summary: An accident leaves Trip time to think about his future.


Wrecked: A Night In The Desert

by Bluetiger

**Rating:** PG, for minor language.

**Disclaimer:** Paramount owns Star Trek, I just play with the people I like.

**Summary:** An accident leaves Trip time to think about his future.

* * *

Trip was exhilarated; speeding down the desert road was the most fun he had experienced in ages. Enterprise had stopped at this friendly little planet and the crew had been impressed by all the recreational activities available to guests. Everyone had gone their separate ways, Trip opting to rent the equivalent of an Earth motorcycle for a ride out into the less inhabited area outside the city. He was in the mood to be off by himself for a change. Usually such a social individual, Trip had some things on his mind that required solitude to work through.

Wearing his own jeans, boots, and leather jacket, all he needed to rent were the bike and helmet. Putting his communicator in his jacket pocket, Trip sped out of town and soon could have sworn he was in the Mojave Desert of Earth. Being a warp engineer made a man particularly sensitive to vibrations, so Trip felt the tremors before he saw the rocks begin to fall. The quake hit just as he was riding through a small canyon. Boulders fell from all directions and Trip's bike slammed into a rather large one. By the time all the shaking was over, the motorcycle and a fair amount of debris had Trip pinned to the ground on his back. It took more than a few minutes for the dust to settle and for Trip to clear his head.

The young engineer began to take stock of his situation. Removing his helmet, Trip noticed it had a large dent. "Glad I was wearing that," he said to himself. His movement was very restricted, but he managed to lift himself up on his elbows. Trip could tell that, at the very least, his left leg was broken. It hurt like hell and he couldn't move it at all. Trying to remain calm, Trip knew that with his communicator, he could call for help and they would be able to locate him. Fumbling for his pocket, the battered man searched in vain for the little piece of equipment. Trip tried looking in his general vicinity and soon found the errant device. Unfortunately, it was in about forty-seven pieces.

Trip tried to clear some of the rubble away but it was no use. He was well and truly pinned by the wrecked bike and rocks. Trip was starting to feel a little light-headed. Straining to look down he could see a pool of red gathering in the dust near his leg.

"Well, hell that's not good."

"Who ya talking to Trip?"

Turning his head to the right, Trip could see his sister Lizzie sitting on a rock; her arms wrapped around her drawn-up knees.

"Lizzie, what are you doing out here in the desert?"

"I just came to keep you company for a while," she replied with a bright smile.

"I'm glad. You didn't happen to bring any water did you, Sis?" Trip ran his tongue over his dry lips.

"Sorry, honey."

"That's ok, I'm glad you're here anyway."

"By the way Trip, why did you come all the way out here alone?"

"I needed some time to think about someone special," he told his baby sister.

"Oh, the Vulcan lady you're in love with."

"How'd you know about her, Smarty?"

"I know lots of things Big Brother, for instance, you stand behind Malcolm all the time so you can see T'Pol's backside when she bends over that viewer thing."

Trip tried for righteous indignation but couldn't pull it off, "Do not."

Lizzie laughed and Trip realized how much he missed that sound.

"You really need to tell her that you love her, and soon!"

"I'm kinda scared to. What if she doesn't love me back?"

"Hey, my big brother is not a coward, so get off your duff and tell her."

"By the way, am I dead, just out of curiosity," he calmly asked.

"No you're not dead. Not yet anyway. You know your people are looking for you, just hang on."

"You're a hallucination aren't you?"

"Of course I am. You don't want to be out here all alone do you?" Lizzie asked her exhausted brother.

"No, I wouldn't like that very much. I think I'm gonna sleep for a bit, will you stay?"

"Of course I will you big goof-ball, I got nowhere else to be."

Trip drifted off to sleep and began to dream of T'Pol.

"Trip where are you? Tell me where you went today, we can't find you."

"T'Pol, it's dark. I can't see you. Are you a hallucination too? My sister Lizzie is here keeping me company. She says I should tell you about how I'm in love with you. But I'm afraid that you don't love me."

"Commander! Try to concentrate, where are you?"

"I'm south of the city . . . maybe twenty miles. I'm hurt T'Pol. In the desert. Wrecked the bike."

"Hang on Trip, help will be there soon."

Trip awoke with a start. It was dark and cold, "Lizzie?!"

"I'm here Darlin'. Sittin' right beside you. You're still not dead, so let's keep it that way."

"You know, except for the broken bones and blood and all, I sure have enjoyed spending time with you."

"You are a mental case brother-of-mine, but since I see the lights of a shuttlepod landing, I think I'll go now. Love you Trip."

"Love you too."

The next thing Trip was aware of was the sounds and smells of sickbay.

"Commander, wake up!" Phlox was speaking too loud and it made Trip's head ache.

"Please Doc, my head is killing me." He winced at the sound of his own voice.

"I'm not surprised, you have a mild concussion. Plus, it took a good hour of surgery to get that leg put back in proper order. I guess I don't need to tell you how near you were to bleeding out."

"I kind of figured," Trip replied with a shudder.

Captain Archer had entered sickbay and walked over to the bio bed.

"Trip, good to see you back with us. We had a devil of a time finding you after the earthquake."

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"Fortunately, no. With your usual Tucker luck, it seems that you were practically on top of the fault line."

"Figures," Trip said with a shake of his head. "How did you find me?"

"T'Pol was on the sensors for hours sweeping the city. She finally had to take a short meditation break, but when she returned you were located in a matter of minutes."

"Wow, that was lucky, I'll be sure to thank her later," Trip grinned.

After a light dinner of soup and Jello, Trip was settling down for the night. T'pol came into sickbay quietly, and eased up to Trip's bed.

His blue eyes flickered open, "T'Pol, I'm glad you stopped by. I wanted to thank you for all the effort you put into finding me."

"It was no trouble, Trip."

"Well, I really appreciate it anyway. I was beginning to get a little scared."

"At least you had your sister to keep you company."

Trip's mouth fell open, "How did you know about that?"

As T'Pol began to walk away, she turned, "You told me . . . along with a few other items of great interest."

THE END


End file.
